From Studio to Screen: How IBM Developed a Digital Showcase for Final-Year Students at University of the Arts London
By Matt Candy
Culture itself is always changing. But in the world of art, there are many constants. Graduate shows from final-year creative arts students are one such constant. The culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice, the final show gives the student often for the first time a space to introduce themselves to the world. For many it's a defining moment in their careers. For all, it is an unforgettable experience.
When COVID-19 disrupted the prospect of graduate shows as we know them, universities like the University of the Arts London (UAL) faced a huge dilemma. Cancellation was not an option. Ranked number two in the world for art and design, UAL brings together six iconic colleges. With close to 7,000 students of art, design, fashion, media and performance planning to put on graduate shows this summer, the University had to find the right solution and fast.
Sir Nigel Carrington, UAL Vice-Chancellor, said: We partnered with IBM as a rapid response to the coronavirus pandemic to create a platform to host the final collections of our graduating students. Now more than ever we need the talent, entrepreneurship, resilience and vision of our creative graduates to reshape our economy and keep our society and culture thriving."
That challenge came to IBM in mid-March, and it was fast-paced: fewer than three months to tear up the rule book and start again on a project UAL would typically spend a year preparing.
Creating a Unique, Compelling Platform
A team of experts from IBM's Global Consumer Industries Center of Competence and IBM iX the business design arm of IBM Services was quickly assembled. Using IBM's learning from projects such as our recent Wimbledon 2020 The Greatest Championships compilation and our work on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the team sketched out concepts. Agile project management then kicked in as the IBM and UAL project teams came together.
Harnessing ideas from as many perspectives as possible from staff to students to industry was central to the project. What everybody quickly understood was that this project was not about technology replicating a live show. The objective was to create a unique platform for students to showcase their work in the most compelling ways for industry, the media and the general public.
The end result is the UAL Graduate Showcase a curated and richly layered digital platform announced today. UAL describes it as a platform hosting the next generation of creative talent from across UAL's six world-leading colleges in one, curated space for the first time in history.
The launch of the platform will be accompanied by an events program, running from July 28 to August 7. But users are not constrained by the transience of a gallery visit or a catwalk show. Visitors can take their time to absorb what's before them, and they can return again and again. Graduates can highlight works for sale, with embedded links to their individual e-commerce platforms.
Works from three of the artists taking part in the UAL Graduate Showcase: At top, "Grenouille" by Julia Sasaki Hernanz, B.A. Costume for Performance, London College of Fashion, UAL; above, "r you happy to be alive" by Yifan He, B.A. Fine Art: Sculpture, Camberwell College of Arts, UAL; and below, "Break the Frame'" by Sophie Huckfield, M.A. Material Futures, Central Saint Martins, UAL. Images courtesy the artists and UAL.
Planning for a Hybrid Future
Behind the new digital platform is state-of-the-art thinking and technology. Our project engagement leader, Joseph Kearins, and his team worked hand in hand with UAL and the colleges in agile sprints. They built the platform using Red Hat OpenShift on the IBM public cloud, providing a solid foundation of open source innovation, security leadership, and enterprise-grade infrastructure. This platform gives UAL the flexibility to access the very latest applications and services without vendor lock-in.
IBM iX harnessed the power of design, data and exponential technologies to quickly create and bring to life an engaging and beautiful digital platform experience.
The UAL Graduate Showcase does not intend to replace physical shows. The world is experiencing a very unusual moment, and UAL plans a return to physical shows as soon as it is safe to do so. Yet, looking ahead, as current world events continue to disrupt regular business operations, it is clear that the current health crisis will have a lasting impact on how we live and work.
UAL will have to tackle whether a hybrid approach with graduate shows will become a necessity in the future not just to cope with post-pandemic safety measures, but to continue to grow as a leading arts institution in the digital age. Hybrid shows, blending physical and virtual experiences more deeply than ever before, could change how future generations of talent are announced to the world, and shape how creators and audiences engage with the arts.
In a world where we are being consistently digitally disrupted, businesses across all industries will now have to enter into a constant innovation stream. They will need to blend strategy, technology and creativity to tackle every challenge. Beyond the creative arts, there are opportunities in many sectors: from education to automotive and beyond. This new approach also holds significant potential for the B2B sector for example, with hybrid trade shows.
Right now, close to 7,000 UAL graduate students are currently putting their work on the UAL Graduate Showcase. The public launch of the platform will take place on July 28, at 18:30 BST (1:30 p.m. ET). It will unveil the newest names in art, design, fashion, creative communications and performance under one roof for the first time ever.
As UAL Chancellor and
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
From Studio to Screen: How IBM Developed a Digital Showcase for Final-Year Students at University of the Arts London 
